Logic behind Christianity?

[PyroSpark]

I've looked into this before, but it seems that whenever I get close to believing, something comes up and makes me say "wait, what?" and puts me back to square one.So, is it possible to be a Christian if you're a logical thinker AND have not been raised with religion?

 

[haflore]

Not really. You're better off just adopting whatever beliefs make sense to you.

 

[yuyuyup]

I think it's logical to have blind faith in an afterlife rather than succumb to the insanity of oblivion

 

[Slyakin]

Religion...

Just choose what's best for you. I don't know what to say to this, really.

 

[Depravo]

Logic and religion are mutually exclusive. Logic encourages us to question whilst religion demands we blindly accept.

 

[Warrior522]

I think it's logical to have blind faith in an afterlife rather than succumb to the insanity of oblivion

It's called Agnosticism.

 

[Daizu]

No religion makes sense no matter how you look at them. There'll always be something that contradicts it. If you want to believe in God, you do that. It's already been said, but believe what you want to believe. If you want to believe in God, that doesn't necessarily mean you need to be a follower of any religion. You just need to say "I believe in God" and there. You're a believer.

 

[Youkai]

Why would someone who thinks logical at all think religion would be something good to adapt to oO?

Relegion is something for stupid people who need this as an explanation why they are alive and others just need it when they have problems cuz they want something impossible to happen ...


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well sorry if someone feels offended by me saying its for stupid ppl but well everyone who would think logical would say most of what religion thaughts is bullshit even thaught some ideas about not doing bad things are nice...

 

[cwstjdenobs]

Yes it is. You don't have to take everything in the Bible 100% literally. If you're a Christian this is especially true of the Old Testament.

But, you can't have faith based on logic. You either believe, even against evidence and logic, or you don't.

 

[YetoJesse]

I'm gonna post 2 pictures, showing you my believe between logic and religion.

 

[Slyakin]

Oh goodness, like all religious topics before, this is getting flamey.

Maybe you should go ahead and lock the topic before it's too late?

 

[PyroSpark]

If it gets TOO bad, I'll lock. I'm really appreciating everyone's thoughts on this atm.

 

[Shinigami357]

I don't believe that faith or belief should ever be blind. That's like you closing your eyes and letting a blind man lead you across a busy intersection - you're willingly screwing yourself and letting everything come down to how strong your inner fiber is. And therein lies the problem: people's inner fiber aren't strong enough.

On one end, you have the people who view everything as "an act of God". Cat ate your pet hamster? Broke your hand in 3 places after someone pushed you? Teacher gives you an F cuz he don't like you? All these, they'll explain away as "God's will". Whatever happened to our own free will [that God gave us] is up in the air, as far as they're concerned.

The other end of the spectrum, there are the people who use the religion like crutches. Junior died? House got foreclosed? Hell, won a $96049604569 lottery jackpot? All they do is say "God help me as I go through this [insert situation here]." These guys didn't receive the memo that God helps those who help themselves.

I'm not saying every christian is like that, but I've seen a lot of them, regardless of denomination [that the right term???]. Like I said, some people, they don't have inner fiber strong enough to handle believing in something, worse yet if it's blind belief.

No, IMHO, a person should only believe in what he thinks is right, and not some doctrine that some wheezing old guy laid down. It's true, belief is the strongest thing man has, bar none. And that's exactly why we shouldn't just surrender our beliefs like that. I hope you got my point.


PS
Again, nothing against hardcore religious types out there. Just stating my take on it. Chill!

 

[Burton]

Respecting everyone's opinion in this thread

It's time for me to put my two cents in this matter:

Spoiler

 

[Shinigami357]

@Burton - Is it coincidence that the top coin has the side that says "In God we trust" or is that your message?

 

[Blaze163]

I like to think of myself as fairly logical (aside from my chocobo obsession but that's a different matter) and I've never put any stock in religion. Well, that's not strictly true. I went to a church youth club, admittedly more for the cute girl who invited me than any religious reason. And while I was there I decided that the spirit of religion is no bad thing. They accepted that I wasn't convinced by their beliefs. The group taught good moral messages. And at the core that's what Christianity is, a guideline on how to be a good person. There's nothing wrong with that.

It's when you take moral guidance and build a powerbase on it that the shit hits the fan. I'm sorry if this offends anyone but I simply cannot take the Pope seriously. An old man in a dress giving out sexual advice. You gotta admit, it's a golden idea on paper. And yet people will follow blindly because they see him as some sort of conduit to the almighty. He's not. He's a man. A fallable human male.

The simple fact is human beings without exception crave power. We're driven by primal forces to have control over our lives. And we're not above using people's deep held beliefs to gain an advantage over them. Religion is used to control the masses, simple as. Maybe there is an afterlife. Maybe there is a God of some kind. Hell, I've been technically dead for a few minutes and I have a hazy recollection of a voice (in case you're wondering, a female voice I didn't recognise, very soft sounding, telling me my time wasn't up yet and that I still had a task to attend to, and I do recall the faint smell of flowers), but even I refuse to place my faith in something that cannot be proven to exist. Even if there IS an afterlife, I'll deal with it when I get there. Simple fact is that I don't know for sure that there is anything else waiting for me at the end of it all. I DO know that I'm alive now. I'd rather worry about something real than something that could just be a load of old bollocks.

 

[Shoat]

So, is it possible to be a Christian if you're a logical thinker AND have not been raised with religion?

No it is not.

The only way to be part of a religion is by completely blind belief, because you will find utterly questionable content not only everywhere all over the bible, but also in most other religions.

Religion and common sense do not go well together.



However, you can still believe that there is a god without dedicating to a religion (in this case "being a Christian").

Just avoid manmade religions if their ridiculous claims make you think "wtf seriously?" every single time.
It's not like you HAVE to join any of them in order to be allowed to believe in something.



That aside, I do not "believe".
I consider it possible that a god or god-like entity exists. I will neither claim that it does, or claim that it does not, because there is proof for neither. I think that everyone is free to believe in a god.
I will, however, always argue that religion is complete and utter bullshit and that the bible, the koran and any other of these writings were completely made up by a normal human being at some point and cannot be viewed as truth.

 

[_Chaz_]

We really REALLY don't need another religion thread right now.

 

[Snailface]

*snip*

That's fine if you think some religious people are beneath you, YetoJesse, but casting the assertion of the religious community as a whole, "mentally retarded", is a little disingenuous, don't you think?
MLK was a devoutly religious man, and yet he is regarded as one of the greatest thinkers of our time. Read the "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" and see if you spot a wee bit of logic and intelligence in it.

http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/re...rom_birmingham/

Of course, there are many other religious people now and throughout history who have shown remarkable intelligence as there are people of non-faith who have made great intellectual contributions to society. Maybe we should focus on the content of their contributions instead of casting aspersions based on something as trivial as their (non)belief in the afterlife.

Spoiler

I apologize posting MLK's noble image next to that imbecilic, juvenile picture-rant, but I had to do it to make my point. Sorry.

 

[mcp2]

Religion is lost on the younger generations who blindly follow their liberal, psuedo-intellectual friends online regurtitating the same old arguments against religion.

Logic and religion are mutually exclusive. Logic encourages us to question whilst religion demands we blindly accept.

You really are a stupid moderator to think they're mutually exclusive.

Why would someone who thinks logical at all think religion would be something good to adapt to oO?

Relegion is something for stupid people who need this as an explanation why they are alive and others just need it when they have problems cuz they want something impossible to happen ...


------

well sorry if someone feels offended by me saying its for stupid ppl but well everyone who would think logical would say most of what religion thaughts is bullshit even thaught some ideas about not doing bad things are nice...

Here we have a teenager who thinks they've got life understood down to a tea, how about you come back in 10 years and see if you feel the same?

QUOTE(YetoJesse @ Jul 10 2011, 07:24 PM)

I'm gonna post 2 pictures, showing you my believe between logic and religion.

Funny thing, you've just played right into my stereotype about the type of people athiests are. You actually haven't said anything, just posted two stupid pictures detailing the opinions of other people. Have you ever read a religious book? People dismiss religion without even giving it a chance. Where's the logic in that? Another point, vast majority of the most influential scientists, mathematicians of the past hundreds of years believed in God, I don't think that affected their logic.